How Big is Indianapolis? An Expert's Perspective

Indianapolis, colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and the most populous city in the United States of America. This week, the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University's Kelley Business School analyzed some of the Indiana census data, showing that Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and Carmel recorded the top three year-on-year population increases. Whitestown was also revealed to be the state's fastest-growing community for the sixth consecutive year. Organizations, even those that are well-managed, can develop a habit of staying in their comfort zones and refusing to change course even though they know they should.

Leaders may convince themselves that the current state is somehow good and solvable. In Indiana BusinessA, a division of IBJ Media, Indianapolis is the twelfth largest city in the United States. Indianapolis was established on land destined for the capital of a state in the early 19th century and was inspired by Washington D. C.

Despite not being located on a navigable body of water, its central location relative to the state and much of the country has made it an important transportation and distribution center since the 19th century. Since the 1970s, Indianapolis has earned a reputation as a sports center by building significant sports and visitor facilities and vigorously promoting itself as a venue for a wide variety of sports events for fans. The most famous sporting event held in Indianapolis is still the Indianapolis 500 Mile race, which is held annually at the Indianapolis Speedway. Indianapolis is located east of the White River in central Indiana. It is the largest city in the United States that is not located on a navigable body of water.

Its main thoroughfare is Washington Street (I-40), which crosses the city from east to west as part of a larger grid pattern that governs the design of its streets. The Greyhound and Trailways bus lines serve Indiana. The Amtrak bus station and train station are located in the renovated Union Station in downtown Indianapolis. Amtrak service is provided to Washington D. and Chicago with three weekly trips to each city.

Nearly eight million passengers use Indianapolis International Airport each year, which is located seven miles southwest of downtown Indianapolis. The airport is managed by a private company (the same company that manages London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports) and serves 18 airlines with more than 175 daily departures to 76 different destinations. It is also a package sorting center for FedEx and the United States Postal Service. The design of Indianapolis was inspired by Washington D. C., with its main roads intersecting at Monument to Soldiers and Sailors in its heart.

The main east-west artery is Washington Street (I-40) while Meridian Street serves as its main north-south highway and major shopping center. The Indiana Public Transportation Corporation (METRO) operates 138 city buses and provides service to people with disabilities through its Metro Transit Open Door program with a base fare of 75 cents for local public transportation. Walking tours are offered in Mile Square area in downtown Indianapolis. According to estimates by 1997 Census Bureau, Indianapolis had a population of 813,670, up 2.1 percent from 1990 when its population was 731,327 (47 percent men, 53 percent women). In early 1970s there was a revival of interest in city's older residential districts leading to revitalization of neighborhoods such as Lockerbie Square, Woodruff Place, Old Northside and Herron-Morton with cobblestone streets while Midtown area has fountains, bridges, walkways and new residential and commercial construction in heart of city.

Chatham Arch has become increasingly popular area for residential renovation while other neighborhoods include historic Fletcher Place and Fountain Square, University Heights surrounding University of Indianapolis, Homecroft and Old North Side as well as exclusive Meridan-Kessler neighborhood. Suburban areas include Carmel to north of city and Greenwood to south while it took some time before city grew significantly due to lack of navigable body of water nearby since White River was too shallow to navigate until construction of national highway (now I-40) crossing city in 1830 followed by completion of Central Canal in 1839 leading to increased industrial activity with arrival of first railroad lines in 1847 allowing access to Ohio River eventually turning Indianapolis into commercial center with population reaching 18,611 at start of Civil War. In 1970 Indianapolis City and County governments merged to form distinctive government system known as UniGov with executive power exercised by mayor elected for four-year term heading administration consisting of six departments governing in conjunction with 29-member City-County Council also elected for four-year terms either by district or general election while government employed 12,000 people in 1995. Government, industry and services are components of Indianapolis economy with manufacturing dominant sector until 1980s when it was surpassed by services and retail while manufacturing industries include food and food products, paper, chemicals, printing and publishing, petroleum, plastics, bricks, clothing, fabricated metal products, machinery, transportation equipment, medical and optical products as well as electronic products with manufacturing industry employing 126,100 people in Indianapolis by end 1996. Major companies with corporate headquarters in city include Eli Lilly & Company (manufacturer of pharmaceutical products), Allied Gas & Turbine Allison Transmissions & Associated Group (insurance company recommended as one of country's top companies to invest in).

Rickie Koning
Rickie Koning

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